Join The Twitter Roundtable: What Makes A City 'Smart'?

Use #nprcities to join a Twitter conversation about smart cities and urban innovation.

NPR

Originally published on July 11, 2013 1:10 pm

This year, the NPR Cities Project is covering the concept of "smart cities": how cities worldwide are experimenting with technology to solve all sorts of urban problems. Please join us as we tackle the issue of smart cities with a live Twitter chat on Thursday, July 11, from 11 a.m. to 12 noon EDT.

Policymakers hope implementing technological solutions to urban issues will help cities become more efficient, more user-friendly and more environmentally sustainable.

But are these cities smart? The creation and implementation of a new digital urban infrastructure also raises lots of questions. A smartphone may offer new opportunities for civic engagement, but will people who can't afford one be left behind? While camera networks may aid police in fighting crime, do they compromise individual privacy? Will the troves of social media and mobile phone data really reveal enough information about human behavior to help cities address global climate change?

In short, is the drive toward a new kind of "technopolis" a boondoggle or a boon for cities?